For Luci Tapahonso Poem by Keith Shorrocks Johnson

SHE-WHO-BRINGS-HAPPINESS

Tell me the One Good Thing about Today?
It has been listening to Luci Tapahonso
Reading her poetry and having her sign
Her book ‘Blue Horses Rush In'
With the words ‘Keith - In Beauty - Thank You'
Hozhojii naanaa.

I had welcomed her coming into Te Papa
With a granddaughter who was wearing Navajo leggings
Whose decorative design portrayed their heritage
[Feathers or sparks splayed in escutcheon]
And led her through to The Marae
Mana whenua

And I said to her as she signed her book:
"In these troubled times, we need to go back
Not to history but to the Deep Past"
Meaning that I believe that myth and ceremony
Will serve better than worldliness,
As we are the stuff that dreams are made of

But I fancy that she, being a woman who weaves
To pattern the past to the present
Draping the land in precious fabrics
Wrapping us in blankets of love and wisdom,
Looks most to the future and her granddaughter
She-Who-Brings-Happiness.